The 2012 NFL Draft produced a quarterback class for the ages, led by Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III. A year later, it's been all hard luck for the position. Given it is 2013, maybe we should have seen this coming.

West Virginia's Geno Smith was selected in Friday's second round by the New York Jets, but sandwiched between Florida State first-round pick EJ Manuel (Buffalo Bills) and NC State third-round pick Mike Glennon (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), he also was one of three quarterbacks taken in two nights.

Consider in '12, by No. 8 overall, we had our third QB, Ryan Tannehill, behind Luck and Griffin, and by No. 22, we had a fourth, Brandon Weeden. Two years ago, six quarterbacks were taken in the first 36 selections.

We had an idea the offerings this year were weak, with nothing close to the sure thing that Griffin, Luck or even Cam Newton before them looked to be.

Smith should feel fortunate to be off the board. Two other presumed first-round picks, Southern Cal's Matt Barkley and Syracuse's Ryan Nassib, awaited Saturday's final four rounds, agonizing over when someone would take a chance on them.

If Smith thought he was uncomfortable in the green room, now comes the hard part: succeeding in the Jets' hunter green.

There was a time Mark Sanchez was not an overpriced whipping boy. He won playoff games for the Jets. But then when the Jets had a chance to keep him in the right direction, they didn't bring in the younger help he needed. His receivers kept getting remixed, and Sanchez was put through the ringer on offensive schemes.

This is what Smith is facing as he will either compete with Sanchez for the starting job or, based on an ESPN report, be handed the gig with the Jets thinking about cutting ties with Sanchez before the season. It's not easy for sensitive quarterbacks to handle the glare of the Big Apple, and Smith is more Sanchez than the always-even-keel Eli Manning.

If Smith gets thrown into the fire, he will be burned. And then he'll need to start over in Year 2 when the result will be the team moving on from Rex Ryan and a lame-duck coaching staff.

A sign that this quarterback class is bad is that other teams not sold on their current starters — the Jacksonville Jaguars, Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles — haven't even sniffed in that direction. So color us skeptical if we think Gang Green is making a total reach with Smith.

Manuel should be a little worried too. The Bills are so desperate to get on the map with their passing game that they moved on from decent veteran producer Ryan Fitzpatrick. They just gave Manuel two rookie receivers, Robert Woods and Marquise Goodwin. Buffalo's track record with developing quarterbacks is not good, no matter who's coaching the team, and Doug Marrone didn't even take his own guy from college, Nassib.

Let's remember the Bills even whiffed in the great '04 first round with J.P. Losman, when the Giants (Manning) and Pittsburgh Steelers (Ben Roethlisberger) got Super Bowl winners, and the San Diego Chargers (Philip Rivers) also found a keeper. Remember, the Giants acquired Manning by trading him to the Chargers on draft day.

The Jets and Bills are also setting themselves up for trouble by forcing themselves into the current league copycat trend of running quarterbacks and read-option wrinkles. If Smith and Manuel are indeed early-round projects, that's a lot to throw at them.

That's also the reason that Barkley, with his lack of a big arm and requisite mobility, and Nassib, also short on athleticism, couldn't overcome concerns to get drafted in the first three rounds.

That's not to say good things won't come to them for waiting, stepping into more favorable situations than Smith and Manuel.

Take Glennon, who to some has Matt Ryan or Joe Flacco lanky-dropback potential. In Tampa Bay, he's behind 2009 first-round pick Josh Freeman, who isn't quite on the same hot seat as Sanchez, but his leash might be tightening. The Bucs have good receiving corps and a strong running game in place with Doug Martin. If the opportunity knocks with Freeman struggling with interceptions, Glennon is in a better position than either Smith or Manuel.

Last year, it worked for fellow former NC State player and third-round pick Russell Wilson, who looked like he was going to back up Matt Flynn with the Seattle Seahawks, only to win the job and become a Pro Bowl player.

In a year of no slam-dunk stars to take, Barkley, Nassib, Tyler Wilson, Tyler Bray and the rest of the QBs available in Saturday's four rounds have the same shot to make it, no matter when their names get called.

Knowing how this draft is gone, their eventual teams should feel a lot better about taking them late than not taking Smith or Manuel early.